Canada

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May 13, 2019

Hon. Carolyn Bennett

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

10 rue Wellington

Gatineau, QC K1A 0H4

CC: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Minister of Justice David Lametti; Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef; Minister of Indigenous Services Seamus O’Regan

RE: Ending Sex Discrimination in the Indian Act

Dear Minister Bennett,

Why is a caribou protection plan needed in northeast BC?

The BC government reported in 2018 that the six caribou herds in the southern Peace region “have undergone a dramatic decline in numbers” over the last decade and will disappear entirely if conditions do not change. All of the herds are currently listed as “threatened” under the Species at Risk Act, but the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has recommended that five of the herds be classified under the even more urgent category of “endangered.”

This article was originally published in the Toronto Star.

By Justin Mohammed

Refugee claimants who cross the Canada-U.S. border irregularly do not reach that decision lightly. Upon doing so, they are arrested and temporarily detained until police establish their identity and ensure they aren’t a security threat. Possessions are restricted to those that they can carry. The route can be dangerous; frostbite has claimed fingers, and hypothermia has even claimed a life. After the refugee protection claim is launched, they remain in limbo for months or years without a guarantee they will be allowed to stay.

This is what refugee claimants coming through the U.S. weigh when they decide to seek Canada’s protection.

In spite of this, the federal government has decided to tighten its borders, further targeting refugee claimants who seek Canada’s protection by travelling through the U.S.

On Friday, May 3rd, students across Canada and around the world will strike for the climate and call on governments to take urgent action to stop climate change.

Amnesty International is in solidarity with the climate strike and warns that the failure of governments to address climate change may amount to the greatest inter-generational human rights violation in history. Climate change affects the rights to life, health, housing, water and sanitation, among others, and it disproportionately affects those who are already marginalized or subject to discrimination.

Amnesty’s 2019 Human Rights Agenda calls on Canada to address the human rights implications of climate change by, among other measures:

Ending the dependence on fossil fuels by 2040 Ending fossil fuel subsidies Promoting a just transition to a zero-carbon economy Ensuring that the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous communities for any new energy projects is respected

Climate change is a human rights issue. As Amnesty develops and deepens our work on climate justice, we need you to take action and call on Canada to stop climate change.

Earth defenders and garment workers are suffering staggering human rights abuses: so why has Canada's new corporate accountability watchdog been de-fanged? 

On April 8, Canada's Minister for International Trade Diversification announced the appointment of the new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). The position was first announced to great fanfare 15 months ago, but sat vacant until Calgary lawyer Sheri Meyerhoffer was appointed. Unfortunately, we have learned that the Ombudsperson's mandate and powers are much weaker than promised.

The most startling difference is that the Ombudsperson is not currently imbued with investigatory powers such as the ability to compel documents and testimony from parties to complaints. In order for the Ombudsperson to be effective and to prevent future human rights abuses in the context of Canadian extractives and garment projects, the office must have these powers.

By Grand Chief Edward John and Sheryl Lightfoot

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) was developed through more than two decades of intensive engagement between states and Indigenous peoples from around the world. Every provision was elaborated on a foundation of international law standards that already existed at the time, whether in the provisions of human rights treaties or in the body of interpretation that emerged around them. Extensive balancing provisions were added to ensure that the UN Declaration would be interpreted consistent with such core principles as justice, democracy, equality, and respect for human rights.

Canada played an active, and at times crucial, role in that process. We recall key times in the negotiations when Canadian officials raised Canadian law and policies as examples to support provisions of the UN Declaration. To date, the UN Declaration has been reaffirmed ten times by the UN General Assembly by consensus. No country in the world formally opposes the Declaration.

By Rachel LaFortune

Many Canadians have heard of the Site C dam: a hydro-electric megaproject in northeast British Columbia that has been backed by successive federal and provincial governments despite its unlawful impact on Indigenous rights. What fewer people may know is that three years ago, in a hearing that received scant media attention, Department of Justice lawyers successfully argued that the federal Cabinet’s decision to sign off on Site C—one of the largest, most expensive, and most destructive energy projects in Canadian history—should be shielded from judicial scrutiny. It’s a story worth revisiting in light of recent revelations and allegations about how other high-stakes decisions balancing the law and corporate interests have reportedly been handled in the Trudeau Cabinet.